Month

If given the choice – salad or candy – is there really a decision to be made? I mean, really.
I despise salad. All vegetables are gross. And salad is just a bunch of vegetables piled upon each other. My parents used to make me eat vegetables at dinner. Corn was okay. So were potatoes. But broccoli, carrots, spinach, and the rest? Yuck! I complained so much ...

FernGully was released when I was six years old, and I loved that magical animated movie about fairies who lived in the rainforest. Memories of that movie were brought to mind yesterday as I strolled through Houston’s Cockrell Butterfly Center.
Sure, butterflies are not fairies. But visiting the 3-story glass structure and 50-foot waterfall with fluttering ...

I bought a car this week with cash.
And it feels really good.
I hesitated to write about this, because I don’t mean to brag. In fact, I bought the car five days ago and have been debating with myself about blogging or not. Please don’t think I’m trying to show off. All I want to do is share why I think saving up and buying a car with cash is better than ...

Walking tours are a fun way to become acquainted with a city. I’ve been on tours in places such as San Francisco, California and Sienna, Italy and now … Portland, Oregon.
I found the “Secrets of Portlandia” free walking tour through Trip Advisor. It is currently ranked #2 of 297 activities in Portland! I was impressed that a walking tour was rated so ...

I like sweets. I eat a lot of them. I have been to a lot of dessert restaurants. Hands down the best ice cream shop I have ever been to is in Portland, Oregon. It’s called Salt & Straw.
After dinner at Bamboo Sushi on NW 23rd Avenue my husband and I walked next door to one of the three Salt & Straw locations. It was 10 pm on a night where everyone was ...

(That's Jason in his last mile of the marathon ... being friendly to the spectators.)Last Sunday I ran the Portland Half Marathon. My husband ran the full thing. It was tough training for a race in the muggy heat of Houston. I didn’t train enough to do my best, but I got through it in 1 hour and 51 minutes. That’s about an 8:15 pace. I got 10th place in my ...

I’ve never had a business card before. The jobs I’ve held have never printed one for me. But I’m now at a point in life where people are constantly giving me their cards and I wanted something to hand to them as well.
I researched for several hours about where to buy these cards and what to put on them. My objective: Not spend a lot of money. But get a card ...

This is the kind of wife I want to be ...
Nathaniel Hawthorne lost his job at a customhouse and went home to break the news to his wife, Sophia. Rather than the reaction he expected, she was joyous. "Now you can write your book," she told him.
Unconvinced, Hawthorne asked her, "And what shall we live on while I am writing it?"
Sophia opened a drawer that ...